For the weapons of our warfare are spiritual
1 Corinthian 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
As a little girl, we watched a lot of war movies. After all, I was born less than ten years after WWII ended and so movies about that era were big. “To Hell and Back” detailed the journey of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII who returned home to star in westerns. The tension of the Korean War was tempered with humor by the Mash unit. And then there was Viet Nam.
Suddenly scenes of war were part of our evening ritual as the 6:00 news showed fighting in places with names we did not know and could not pronounce. From the jungles of Viet Nam to the deserts of the Middle East the wars have continued.
In talking to the church at Corinth, Paul felt the need to explain that the spiritual battles we wage are on a different plane than physical battles. The weapons of earthly warfare change as technology develops, but weapons used in spiritual battle have not changed. Ephesians 6 tells us we are to put on the full armor of God:
- The helmet of salvation
- The breastplate of righteousness
- Gird or belt your garment with the truth
- Put on shoes of peace
- Pick up the shield of faith
- Take up the sword of the Spirit (the word of God)
Too often when we have conflicts or disagreements with our fellow man, we resort to solutions that are neither spiritual nor effective. We forget that we are at war against the principalities and powers of the Evil One, and the only weapons effective in that type of battle are weapons given to us from God on high.
Why do we turn to prayer and scripture as a last resort rather than making them the cornerstone of our battle plan? Because we fail to take captive the thoughts and fears that plague us, giving way instead to dwelling upon things that serve only to weaken us.
PRAYER: Father, we ask your forgiveness that we just don’t get it sometimes. Instead of turning to you first, we try to solve our problems and our disagreements our own way. May you be the first thought on our minds when we open our eyes in the morning, may Jesus be the first words on our lips, and may we live out our lives as servants of the living God.
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- Tagged: Seeking Holiness, spiritual weapons
Seeking Holiness 
Amen, why do we use prayer as a last resort …. when we have Jesus, the one who holds the future in His hands, and has all power ?
Blessings to you, and I thank you for taking the time to read a portion of my blog and for your encouragement
Thank you for that wonderful ‘Word’ !
God willing, I will be talking next month on the subject ‘Called to Holiness’. I don’t get to preach too often so I am reading and studying everything that I can get my hands on concerning ‘Holiness’. I ran across your blog and was mightily blessed by the inspiring words that you placed here about holiness. It didn’t take me long to figure out that holiness is a subject that is much more involved that I had previously reckoned. To be thorough … it would have to be a series of sermons covering, self righteouness, The Holiness of God, Putting on the armour of God, Fighting the Good Fight, What is true Holiness?, and the list goes on ….
Again, thank you for the word God put in your heart to share. May God richly and abundantly bless you.
You are absolutely right. I try to tell folks that when God said Be thou holy it was not a suggestion it was a command. And holiness is not about trying to be perfect it is about being perfected in love. Blessing to you as you preach.
Sent from my iPhone Have a blessed day!
Thank You, and of course I agree with you … holiness is a command ! However, please shy away when they hear the word “holiness” … when I was a kid, the pastor often preached about ‘holiness’ … but now they’re are preaching about a different kind of faith, a faith that increases your bank account and a faith that gets you into a new fancy house and a shiney new automobile. What kind of Christianity is this? I don’t know about anyone else, but the commandment is to be holy and live holy … and God will supply our needs. Place me in your prayers, prayer changes things, and I want to go higher in learning, in loving, in obedience ……my name is Joyce …
________________________________ God says that the more helpless your circumstances, the more likely your salvation. The greater your cares, the more genuine your prayers. The darker the room, the greater need for light.
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>________________________________ > From: Seeking Holiness >To: joyce5021@yahoo.com >Sent: Thursday, October 4, 2012 7:02 PM >Subject: [New comment] For the weapons of our warfare are spiritual > > > WordPress.com >iamgracie2009 commented: “You are absolutely right. I try to tell folks that when God said Be thou holy it was not a suggestion it was a command. And holiness is not about trying to be perfect it is about being perfected in love. Blessing to you as you preach. Sent from my iPh”
Bless you, Joyce, as you seek to discern God’s will for your life and share His Word with others. I don’t preach often either, but I am preaching Oct 21, Laity Sunday, on the family of God. Take heart–the Holy Spirit will strengthen you and enrich your sermon.